Shadow Spy

Chapter 421 The Southern Myanmar Counterattack Begins
  Li Junhao has not wasted these few months. He used the British army who did not want to fight to build a 130-kilometer express highway, opened a new channel for military aid, and exchanged the British-made weapons and equipment intercepted from the Chinese Chairman Chiang Kai-shek. With 6.5 new recruits, all units of the Chinese Expeditionary Force entering Myanmar were fully equipped with beautiful equipment, and comprehensive training in air-ground coordination, infantry-tank coordination, and infantry-artillery coordination was organized...

And he trained a powerful field force directly under him - the 101st Allied Army!
  In the conference room, after Chief of Staff Luo introduced the current Japanese military situation in South Asia, Li Junhao walked to the stage and began to explain his new campaign plan based on the large map on the wall.

The combat plan, which he named the "Daily Plan for the India-Burma Theater", has three main contents:

The first is to eliminate the Japanese 3rd Air Force stationed at two airports in Yangon, Myanmar, and Chiang Mai, Thailand;
  Second, the counterattacks in southern Myanmar, Laos, and western Thailand were carried out simultaneously;

The third is to eliminate the Japanese military power in South Asia to the greatest extent.

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  On November 11, the expanded 5th Air Force of the US Army, which was under the command of the India-Burma Theater, began to dispatch P-10 fighter squadrons to conduct reconnaissance and harassment operations in southern Burma and western Thailand, waiting for opportunities to provoke conflicts with the Japanese 40rd Air Force. Air combat in order to eliminate more Japanese fighter planes before the real war...

Thanks to the two-plane tactics taught by Li Junhao to the U.S. military pilots and the tail-end tactics designed to address the shortcomings of the Japanese Zero, the U.S. military fighter jets struck a crushing blow against the Japanese Zero!

In just three days, the 10th Air Force completely defeated the Japanese fighter planes with a record of 75 to 8. However, the retreat of the Japanese 3rd Air Force to the airports in Yangon and Chiang Mai was in vain. The U.S. fighter planes continued to attack. They carried out raids, and occasionally B-24 bombers came on stage, firmly suppressing the Japanese troops within the airport!
  9日凌晨五时，美军第10航空同时出动96架B-24轰炸机、180架P-40、P-38战斗机，分为两批空袭仰光和清迈机场，将日军第3航空军的这两处基地彻底瘫痪！
  At six o'clock, all units under the commander of the India-Burma Theater launched an attack on all fronts:
  The Fifth Army, with the 200th Division as the forward, went south along the Yangon-Manchurian Railway to directly attack Yangon. The New 22nd Division marched from the west along the Irrawaddy River, and the 96th Division was the reserve of the two divisions;
  Divisions of the Sixth Army broke through the Myanmar-Thailand border and attacked Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai, and Ban Hong;
  The New 29th Division of the Sixty-sixth Army went east from the Myanmar-Laos border to attack Weiyangpuka. The 36th Division broke into the Myanmar-Thailand border and attacked Tang County. The New 28th Division acted as a reserve force and followed up behind;

The New 38th Division, as the reserve force of the entire army, is stationed in Mengzhen;
  Behind the various armies, Li Junhao personally led the 101st Group Army as the general reserve team for the campaign, providing strong support to the troops going out...
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  The sudden attack by the Allied forces caught the Japanese army by surprise.

The commander of the 3th Army, Mutaguchi Lian, first received news of the attacks on Yangon and Chiang Mai airports. He had just ordered the 54rd Air Force to transfer the remaining fighter planes to Nakhon Sawan Airport in central Thailand. News that the 53th Division in Laos, the 33rd Division in Thailand, and the [-]rd Division in Nam Liang Lebin, Myanmar were attacked by the Allies.

Mutaguchi is not too worried about southern Myanmar. The 33rd Division stationed in Liang Libin is a special division with 1.8 people and its combat effectiveness can be trusted. However, he is not too worried about the 53rd and 54rd Division stationed in Thailand and Laos. The 1.2th Division was a little worried. The two were both garrison divisions with only [-] people, and their personnel quality and equipment levels were quite different.

After thinking about it, Mutaguchi ordered the 31st Division, which had just arrived in Myanmar and was being prepared in Mawlamyine, to march eastward to Thailand to support the 53rd and 54th Divisions. The 72nd Mixed Brigade stationed in Bago was ready to support the 33rd Division at any time. Division, the 49th Division marched north from Goma to Mawlamyine, and the 18th Division stationed in Yangon was ready for battle.
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  The war lasted only one day, and Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Renya felt something was wrong - the Allied forces dispatched at this time were all troops from the Chinese Expeditionary Force, but they were all mechanized corps using American equipment, and their heavy firepower exceeded the Japanese army several times. , completely suppressing the Japanese army and fighting!

In order to support the frontline troops, Mutaguchi ordered the 3rd Air Force, which had suffered heavy losses and had just transferred to Nakhon Sawan, to dispatch fighter planes to assist in the battle. However, shortly after the 72 Japanese planes took off, they were intercepted by more than 100 P40s. In addition to Except for a few that escaped, most of the Japanese planes were shot down... Immediately, dozens of B-24s followed and bombed Nakhon Sawan Airport again, again inflicting heavy damage to the Japanese 3rd Air Force...

At this point, the Allied forces have gained control of the air on the battlefield in southern Myanmar and western Thailand, clearing the way for subsequent ground battles!
  Li Junhao called the 10th Air Force of the US Army, commended it, and asked it to continue its efforts and provide air support for the Allied ground offensive! ——
  The ensuing battle was almost one-sided. The first to make a contribution was the 200th Division of the Fifth Army. This unit was the first to complete the equipment change and the first to complete infantry-tank collaborative training. Under the command of division commander Dai Anlan, it will completely learn what it has learned. Things came into play, and Liang Libin completely defeated the main force of the Japanese 33rd Division...

The New 22nd Division attacking from the west, under the command of division commander Liao Yaoxiang, completely annihilated a Japanese mixed regiment in Xingshida...

After the Sixth Army's 49th, 55th, and 93rd divisions broke through the Myanmar-Thailand border, they made great progress all the way. The 49th Division broke through Qingdao and the 55th Division defeated Banhong; the 93rd Division entered Thailand from Mengyang and attacked Phayao, defeating the local area. After the Thai army passed through the city, they raided and captured Lampang, southeast of Chiang Mai! The three divisions besieged the Japanese 53rd Division and the Part of the 3rd Air Force in Chiang Mai...

The New 29th Division of the Sixty-sixth Army invaded Laos, wiped out a Japanese infantry brigade, and occupied Weyampuka; the 36th Division broke into the Myanmar-Thailand border and captured Tang County, then continued eastward into Laos and headed toward Luang Prabang. Attack forward; after the New 28th Division captured the south of Ban Hui in Laos, it rushed southeast, preparing to join the 36th Division to attack the Japanese 54th Division in Luang Prabang...

The officers and soldiers of the New 38th Division stationed in Mengzhen, starting from the division commander, Lieutenant General Sun Liren, on down, collectively requested to participate in the battle to attack Yangon and encircle and annihilate the Japanese 18th Division...

After careful consideration, Li Junhao agreed to the request of the New 38th Division to fight and ordered it to set off for Bago...

如此一来，李君豪只能将作为战役总预备队的第101集团军前提，令105旅洛雷斯少将率领111、112、113三个旅前出代替新38师据守蒙镇；令106旅蒙特罗少将率领114、115、116三个旅东下帕桑，负责支援泰国方向。

He moved the theater headquarters forward and stationed the 108th New England Battalion, the 109th Gurkha Brigade and the 117-120th Infantry Brigade in Tonggu, and ordered half of the 10th Air Force's aircraft to station at Tonggu Airport to facilitate rapid Attack and strengthen the frequency of air support for various units on the front line.

(End of this chapter)